The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 940: The Dungeon Revelation

Prince Elior did as he was told.

He extended his pinky like the rest of them, gallantly and without revealing the sheer level of confusion he felt over a decisive pact he had never even heard of. But he did it anyway.

And maybe he did it a little too well, because moments later, he found himself with the poor appendage still sticking out stiffly as the world around them blurred.

They disappeared.

And reappeared.

Elsewhere.

As in, very elsewhere.

It didn’t have the same roof. Not even the same sky. Clearly, they were no longer within the bounds of the Expo Hall or anywhere near DG’s booth.

Even if he were uncultured or painfully insensitive, he was certain that they couldn’t possibly be in the same place as before.

Well.

There was also the possibility that he had died and ascended to heaven.

That remained a very viable option, especially as his eyes kept looking around.

Elior was so jumpy that when his beloved placed a steady hand on his shoulder to ask if he was alright, he nearly took flight.

"!!!"

To his credit, though he toppled sideways and clutched at his chest, he didn’t immediately pass out the way Rahil had when Luca first welcomed them to this place called the Dungeon Space.

Then again, if he were to be praised for something, it would be for managing to survive at least until Luca presented their allegedly modest Lumen crystal farm with a hiccupping "Ta-da!"

By then, Elior’s eyes were already twitching uncontrollably as they were guided deeper into what appeared to be a laboratory. Ada carried Rahil over like a rag doll without so much as a change in expression, while the rest seemed comfortable enough with where they were going.

Clearly, they were the only newcomers in all of this.

Even his fiancée looked like she knew exactly what was going on, and even more unbelievably, a certain blonde was casually enjoying snacks on the go while Elior palpitated all the way!

When they finally got into that place that looked very much like a lab, the Elven Prince immediately fixated on a towering glass beaker filled with shimmering solution, suddenly aware that it had to be the crystal farm they were referring to.

Wow.

Honestly, that surprised him as someone who had been holding on to the seed that hadn’t really shown signs of growth since he received it.

They really weren’t kidding when they said they’d grown something out of it!

But just when he was about to approach it with shaky hands, Luca blinked, tilted his head, and said, "Oh. Sorry, it’s actually behind you. Please turn around."

Elior did just as the cadet pressed a button.

A section of the wall slid open with a soft hum, revealing a massive glass chamber beyond.

He could have rubbed his eyes blind at that point.

Because what he saw wasn’t just a room.

It had to be a cathedral of crystal.

Floor to ceiling, the chamber was lined with clusters of Lumen crystals. Some were embedded into the walls like veins of captured starlight. Others rose from the center in branching formations, their facets catching and refracting every glimmer of light. The entire room shimmered in gradients of pale gold, opalescent white, and faint azure. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Light didn’t simply illuminate the space.

It lived there.

Prince Elior really couldn’t help but feel like he was hallucinating when he even heard Luca say, "Auntie Cece is in the process of replacing the supersaturated solution so we could see the crystals like this for the time being. But on most days, this would usually be submerged! I guess we’re really lucky today!"

Prince Elior honestly just gawked at the golden-eyed heir who was wrapped in the Imperial Crown Prince’s embrace.

Luca stood there, earnestly pointing out one feature after another, explaining adjustments and minor optimizations as though he were presenting a slightly upgraded machine instead of something that could overturn elven history and economy.

But honestly, Elior had only managed to process one sentence.

"As of now, we’ve only harvested a little," Luca was saying. "We’re still trying to figure out how to improve the growth rate."

Improve?

Elior’s eye twitched.

Improve this?

He resisted the urge to fling both arms wide and gesture dramatically at the glittering chamber before him. This already rivaled the elven treasury.

No.

If he were being completely honest, it might have surpassed it. It had been years since he’d properly stepped into the main vault. Who even knew what was left in there anymore? If Eren used it to amass wealth and power, then he wouldn’t be surprised to see just enough to last this generation.

He finally managed to swallow and speak.

"How," Prince Elior asked faintly, "are you even growing this?"

Luca blinked at him.

"Oh! With spiritual water and the lumen solute!" he answered brightly, as if that explained everything.

"Spiritual water?" Elior repeated weakly.

His mind immediately began recalling the ancient tale of spiritual water. While it was certainly real, with how rare it was, it might as well be considered a myth!

"Just how much spiritual water would be needed to grow something this big?!" he demanded, voice rising despite himself.

Luca tilted his head.

"Well... about a tank."

"Sorry... what?"

"As in a water tank."

"A TANK?!"

"Yeah! About thiiiiis much!"

Luca moved away from Xavier’s embrace, stepping closer to the glass wall and spreading his hand against it, outlining a sizable section with enthusiastic gestures while everyone else leaned in, listening intently as if this were a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Elior followed the movement of Luca’s hand.

Followed the marked height.

Followed the shimmering layers of luminous crystal growth embedded within the transparent chamber like frozen starlight stacked upon itself.

As Elior, Prince of the Lumirian Elves, took in the full sight of the chamber and the casual way Luca described tank-sized quantities of spiritual water, he slowly expelled every last bit of air from his lungs.

He swayed.

Princess Kira moved faster than anyone expected and caught him just before he collapsed entirely. Unbeknownst to the Elven Prince, he had once again fulfilled a fantasy of one besotted woman.

Meanwhile, somewhere behind him, Rahil, who had escaped the sight of this farm, made a strangled sound as if sympathetic to the plight of his master.

Safe to say, both the prince and his aide enjoyed a very restful nap shortly after.

A nap that they later learned had only lasted a third of the time that had passed outside.

A very good nap.

One that, unfortunately, led to them being discovered by perhaps the most unexpected individuals possible.

Duke Leander.

Duchess Amelia.

Apparently, it didn’t matter how long it had been since they’d last seen them.

It didn’t matter that the elves’ faces weren’t even the same anymore.

The moment Prince Elior and Rahil woke to find the Duke and Duchess standing calmly beside their beds, the two elves reacted on pure instinct.

They melted off the bed and slid straight onto the floor.

Kneeling.

Hands raised.

As though awaiting judgment.

__

Oh, and the judgment came down hard.

Hard enough that Luca had to immediately throw himself into damage control.

"Papa," he called out quickly, stepping in front of the two kneeling elves. "About the seaweed trip? It’s been postponed, so now we can all go together! And if we managed to get enough gear, then we’d all be able to look at the same time!"

It wasn’t easy redirecting Duke Leander once he was in that mood, but Luca was, fortunately for everyone involved, his precious child. That alone carried terrifying power.

Luca genuinely wanted to calm his parents down. The two elves had already gone through more than enough for one day.

Moreover, the extremely concerned money-grubber had not yet finalized a proper agreement regarding the crystal seed and their farm.

What if they decided not to come back?

What if being sentenced to shovel animal poop scared them off permanently?

Wouldn’t that be the most horrible outcome?!

See, the chicken coop was mostly automated anyway. It required minimal intervention, aside from showing the appropriate respect to the chicken bosses whenever golden eggs appeared. So really, there shouldn’t be any need for them to risk their lives after barely getting revived.

But Duchess Amelia, who had been quietly observing Rahil’s very undignified attempts to outrun a surprisingly (not) aggressive hen, turned her gaze toward her son.

Rahil, for the record, was currently sprinting in circles while being used as extremely animated bait.

"Son," the Duchess said calmly, "you might be thinking that this is excessive. But it’s not."

"Really...?"

"Mn. You see, it doesn’t really matter who they are now."

Both Prince Elior and Rahil froze mid-movement.

They had clearly heard that tone.

"As members of House Kyros," she continued evenly, "they must receive the applicable punishment for their offenses."

Members.

Of House Kyros.

The words landed.

Rahil stopped struggling for a second before a chicken pecked at his ankle and forced him to move again. Elior bit his lip, chest tightening at something he hadn’t expected to feel.

Duchess Amelia went on, her voice neither harsh nor soft. Just firm.

"As punishment for not trusting the House and failing to ask for help, they will clean."

A hit.

"As punishment for concealing illness, they will incur additional training hours. These will be deferred until their condition fully stabilizes."

Another hit.

"And as punishment for forgetting what they signed up for, they will undergo shared experiences to rebuild camaraderie."

That one echoed through their heads the most.

The two elves, who had felt so alone and unseen for so very long, were barely holding themselves together at that point.

Luca blinked.

"For forgetting?" he asked, genuinely confused at what they could have possibly forgotten to warrant all that.

But his father simply angled his face to look at him.

"Yes, my son," he said simply. "They forgot they’re one of us."

Luca’s eyes widened.

"Oh yeah, that’s bad!" he gasped. "Then we need to remind them."

Duchess Amelia’s lips curved faintly.

"We already are."

That night, the unusual case of disciplinary cleaning commenced.

Two elves, both of controversial backgrounds, sobbed their way around the coop while shoveling poop under the watchful eyes of chicken bosses who clearly believed in strict supervision and breaching personal space.

In the far-off future, rumors would actually have it that the mysterious chicken coop of House Kyros was so formidable that even famed members of royalty would emerge from it in absolute tears.

Well, yes, they would. But they would always emerge thinking that maybe it wasn’t so bad.

Sure, it wasn’t. At least until they saw the sudden and inexplicable bald spots behind their heads.

Oh well!